Thursday, January 27, 2011

Disney Marathon Weekend Tips

Part II of our Disney adventure!

We took some notes and compiled some helpful tips for spectators and racers alike. Generally we focus on the non-racer but since I participated in this event there's a smattering of both kinds of tips.

Planning Ahead:

  • Book your hotel rooms the day you/your racer registers for the race. Rooms fill up quickly for marathon weekend. You can change the reservation without penalty until 5 days before your check in if you find a better deal. Take advantage of this. Better to have something booked than be scrambling.
  • All Disney hotels will provide busses to the Expo, to the start race morning and back from the finish to your hotel. But, Polyneisan, Grand Floridian and Contemporary are all on the race route if that's a consideration for spectators. Port Orleans French Quarter abuts the start line corrals, though we're sure Disney discourages people from walking over. (you didn't hear it from us). More on busses later.
  • Park tickets aren't cheap. Really think about how many days you'll want to be walking around parks vs the need to keep your feet up. Having said that, adding days is simple once on property and once over 3-day pass it's inexpensive to add days. (e.g., we added a 6th day to our park hoppers for about $5 a piece)
  • Disney dining plan is a fine option if you'd like to have everything in one package. We got a bit confused by it (our first time using) and, frankly, had to go off the plan a few times for appetizers we wanted and our drinks. I'm not sure how much it saved us. Like the park tickets, it's a numbers game.
  • Good idea to book dining reservations ahead of time for sit-down meals. If you don't, expect a long wait or being told they're not taking walk ups. Better to have them and not use them than searching around for a table.  
  • If you book via Disney Travel, you have to CALL them to OK  your booking and to have the ballance charged to a card about 30 days before arrival. They do NOT automatically bill the ballance to the card you used for your deposit. They will NOT call to remind you until after the 30 day mark and at this point they are entitled to cancel your reservation if they can't reach you. Pay attention.
  • Orlando International Airport is about a 35-min drive from the Disney property. Magical Express is a good option for people staying at Disney hotels. Recommend it for inbound trip, especially if you'll be arriving early in the day before your room is ready. Book a month out and you'll receive yellow bag tags. Once you have these, ME will pick up your luggage and bring it directly to your room while you can go and enjoy your first day at WDW. However you're on their schedule. This means on your return trip, you will be scheduled for a bus to the airport 3 hours before your flight. ME is good because on some airlines you can check in and check bags at your hotel and receive your boarding passes and then just cruise to the airport without a care, bypassing check in counters entirely. But, if you want to spend more time on property before your flight, a cab is an OK option and costs around $50. The front desk at your hotel can connect you to the cab company to arrange a pickup.
  • WEATHER: Could be anything. January weather is highly varriable. In 2010 they had snow marathon morning. in 2011 we had great running weather. Was cool but not freezing at start. Spectators not moving around may find it chilly. Most days were jeans and t-shirts durring the day with a jacket at night but we had one day wearing shorts! Makes packing a pain but plan for anything. If you do forget something, there is a Nike outlet just off property at the Orlando Premium Outlets on Vineland Ave (between I-4 and International Drive). This area also has a ton of chain restaurants and shops.
Race Weekend:

  • Get to the Expo as early as you can both in terms of days and hours. If you're in on Thursday, go Thursday morning. Expo opens at 9...try and be there as close to 9 as you can. We were there early and got through the pickup process fairly quickly. Those who arrived after noon waited in long lines, especially on Friday when people were picking up for both 13.1 and 26.2.
  • Race brings in a ton more people than would be there otherwise in January. January is also summer vacation for South America/Southern Hemisphere folks so don't be surprised by giant tour groups. If you can live without a bag at parks, it'll save you having to wait in long bag-check lines.
Race Morning:

  • Busses. So. Frustrating. A five minute trip to start line at Epcot took an hour and 1:15. Give yourself ample time to get there if you need to check clothing, use the portaloos, have a warm up. Pee before you get on the bus.
  • You didn't hear it from us, but you can walk to the start corrals from Port Orleans French Quarter. The corrals are a good 20 minute walk from the Epcot parking lot in any event. Whichever way you walk, be cautious and visible.
  • Spectators tips:
    • It will be dark until 7 a.m. If you line up along the startline road and want your racer to see you either pick a pre-determined point for them to see you or consider wearing glow necklaces or bring flashlights or somesuch. There are 27,000 runners and you can be hard to pick out.
    • Epcot busses and Monorails will be very crowded. Give yourself ample time to get where you're going.
    • Bring clothing layers. And snacks. And your cell phone.
    • Good observation points:
      • Ticket and Transportation Center
      • Parking lot of the Contemporary
      • Main Street USA (not sure who they let in here or when. Park ticket may be required) check out the Spectator Resources on the Marathon site.
      • Road along the Grand Floridian and Polynesian
      • Epcot parking lot, close to bus depot
    • Set up a pre-determined meeting point following race. Finish line is chaos.
  • After race, there's a booth that will engrave your medals with your chip time!
I may update this as more things occur to me but please feel free to add your tips in the comments!

Friday, January 14, 2011

So, I did it! (and had fun...don't tell anyone)

So, that's me. Up there ^. With the ears. Crossing the finish line of the 2011 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. I generally don't go in for tooting my own horn but...TOOT! I'm damn proud of myself for it. If you'd told me three years ago that I'd do that I'd have laughed in your face. It's really kind of amazing what you can do when you stop whining and saying "no" to yourself.
I'm going to divide this up into two posts, one a race report and a separate one on general WDW Marathon Weekend tips.
But, before I go any further, I have to give a HUGE thank you to Mr. TheyTri for all of his support in this. I know he was worried, but he stayed positive and supportive the whole time. Thank you, honey. And I have to give another huge thank you to Cat Webb and Sam Dickey for running with me and making my first half experience fun! I'd not have done nearly as well without them making me smile the whole way! And, last but not least, a big thanks to Jeremy Webb and Dave Dickey for making the trip so much fun with so many laughs! And congrats to Jeremy on his half PR!
So, Thursday we wake up before the crack of dawn to catch our flight to ORL from Westchester County Airport. I love Westchester Airport. It's tiny, efficient and, most importantly, 20 minutes from the house. No problem with flight at all. Our other two traveling parties weren't so lucky out of Houston and Chicago.
We arrived in Orlando, collected bags and then hopped on the Magical Express to Port Orleans Riverside. We took advantage of the online check in to skip the long line and fortunately, a room was ready for us. dropped off our bags and then headed to Hollywood Studios for some lunch and to wait for everyone else to arrive. Good meal then we decided we were too exhausted from the 4 a.m. wake up so we went back to room to crash. After a snooze we met Jeremy and Cat at Epcot for a celebratory drink at the Rose and Crown. Then onward to meet Sam and Dave for dinner at Shula's at the Dolphin. Aside from Mr. TheyTri putting his foot in his mouth within 10 min. of meeting Dave, laughs abound. Drinks abound, too.
Friday is packet pick up at Wide World of Sports. We bus it over, the Mears busses were so efficient (at this point)...way better than the Disney busses which were *painfully* slow from Port Orleans. Our lines weren't very long so we managed to cruise through getting numbers and collecting our goodie bags. We poked around the expo a bit but I wasn't, to be honest, all that impressed by it. It was crowded and nothing we haven't seen a thousand times before. (Though, we all did laugh at the "will run for wine" shirts).
Magic Kingdom for a bit then back to the hotel early for race prep and early bedtime. I had nervous energy but had a glass of wine (ok, 2) with dinner to calm my nerves and then crashed out.
Woke up before alarm at 2:55 a.m. Coffee on. Clothes on. Ready to go. I wasn't sure what to eat, I get nauseous if I eat too early, so I just had 2 bites of a Luna bar and two bites of a Lara bar and then decided I couldn't stomach it. Brought a packet of Justin's Honey Almond Nut Butter for the bus ride instead. (Thank God...hit the spot). Coffee. Let's GO!
Chilly morning, but not bad. Board the bus quickly and we're off. But...not off far...the traffic getting to the Epcot parking lot was *horrible*. It took us an hour and 15 minutes to take what should have been a 5 minute ride. I was so anxious we were going to miss the start. Disney really needs to sort that out...institute a bus only route to Epcot or something. It was all the more frustrating later when I saw that we could have walked to the corrals from Port Orleans French Quarter in about 5 minutes. I'm sure Disney frowns on that but I can assure you people will do that next year if they don't sort out the busses.
Anyway, we get there and we finally link up with the rest of the team. Quick smooch from Mr. TheyTri and then we head to our corrals. Cat and Sam hung back with me in my lame-o F corral so we could all run together.
After all the pre-race stuff, Al Roker, Anthem etc...the fireworks go off and the first corral goes! Go honey and Jeremy! We hang around for another half hour or so until they get to our wave and then...we're off!
I oddly didn't feel that nervous. I was nervous before we left the hotel but the bus situation made me so annoyed that I just wanted to get going!
The course is flat, flat, flat, with only a few 'hills' caused by overpasses. Love it. My kind of course! We shuffle along to the 5k mark and then take a little walk break while Cat and I take our jackets off...was a bit overdressed and was overheating once I was moving. Then, back to the run. Just about mile 5.5, just when I'd ordinarily start to be crabby and wanting a walk break, we enter the Magic Kingdom. How can you be crabby running up Main Street USA with crowds cheering you? You can't, I tell you! We smiled and kept running through Tomorrowland, with a bit of a potty break, then through Fantasyland and through Cinderella's Castle. Again, impossible not to smile. We, of course, had to stop and take a picture. The whole point of running the damn thing!
On through Frontierland and then through the backstage area and out onto the road again. By this time we're getting tired and the road at this point in the race is narrow and crowded. We took a few walk breaks simply because it was pointless to run...too many bodies in too small a space.  We pretty much did a run walk the last four miles or so. With me earning the nickname Captain because I made the girls run the downhills! I felt surprisingly good, though my right side started to crap out on me...hip, knee, pinky toe. I was also surprisingly cheerful. Running with friends is so key!
Finally we spy the Epcot entrance. We agree (or, I command) that we're gonna run the whole last stretch once we enter the Epcot park. It seems like the longest mile on Earth, but we get there and we, all three, cross the finish line smiling. I hear Mr. TheyTri cheering from the stands and I see him smiling with Jeremy and my in-laws, supporters extraordinare!
We joke and smile and make a bee-line for our medals. Then grab some food and meet back up with Mr. TheyTri and Jeremy.
I felt great. I knew I was going to be sore, but I didn't feel dead. I was happy and proud and it was a really remarkable feeling. I tell myself "no" a lot. "Can't." I guess I proved myself wrong.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Almost Time!

Down near the end if my last post I mention in passing that I wasn't feeling well. That was the first link in a month-long chain of health anomalies. I was sick with a terrible cold for about 10 days. Then, just after Christmas, managed to pinch something in my back/neck that turned me into Frankenstein and then I somehow managed to burst a blood vessel in my right eye making it all red. Fortunately all my tribulations are clearing up and I'm healthy got Disney trip!
What I am, however, is under-trained. I lost valuable training time, time I couldn't afford to lose. But, and here's the weird thing, I'm not worried. I know it's going to be harder than it would have been if I'd not gotten sick and if I'd buckled down sooner to up mileage. But, for me anything past the start line is a PR. It may not be the most pleasant morning of my life, but I'll be there with friends and a very supportive Mr. TheyTri and I'll just buck up and do it!
I'm very much looking forward to the trip, despite the race apprehension hanging over me. It is, frankly, why I choose the Disney races. For me, they are events, more than a start and finish line. Because I'm not "competing," it's about the entire experience. We'll be Tweeting from WDW from Thursday on. Stay tuned!




PS, this was thumbed in on my iPhone so hopefully there is nothing www.damnyouautocorrect.com worthy!